BT 
230 
.P54 
18A8 


'  MWwtMMW* 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  *^ 

Presented    by    A.  G.  Cc^^r^e-ro-n3  Fn.iJ. 


BT  230  .P54  1848 
Phillips,  William  W 
Jesus  of  Nazareth 


JESUS   OF  E 


^  UBMm  ^Person,  anlr  t|)e  Evut  J^essia]^. 

THE  DESIGN  OF  HIS  MISSION. 
The  Day  of  His  Birth  Not  to  be  Celebrated. 

PREACHED    IN    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 
IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK,  DECEMBER,  1847, 

BY  W.  W.   PHILLIPS,   D.   D. 

AND    NOW    PUBLISHED    BY    REQUEST. 


JOHN    A.    GRAY,    PRINTER,    111    NASSAU   STREET. 
1848. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


1    TIMOTHY    I.     15: 

"this  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of 
all  acceptation,  that  christ  jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom 
i  am  chief." 

The  writer  of  this  epistle  could  recommend 
the  gospel,  from  his  own  experience  of  its  ex- 
cellency. He  could  speak  with  confidence  of 
the  fulness,  freeness  and  efficacy  of  the  grace 
of  God,  having  been  made  a  subject  of  it  him- 
self He  felt  deeply  sensible,  also,  of  his  obli- 
gations to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  His  heart 
was  filled  with  love  for  him;  he  could  not 
mention  his  name  on  any  occasion,  without  at 
the  same  time  expressing  his  gratitude  to  him, 
or  giving  him  praise.  He  was  ever  mindful  of 
the  irreat  chans^e  which  had  been  effected  in 


a2 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


his  state  and  character,  whilst  he  uniformly 
ascribed  it  to  the  rich  and  sovereign  grace  of 
God.  He  had  been  the  chief  of  sinners,  and  as 
such  had  deserved  the  most  exemplary  punish- 
ment ;  but  instead  of  that,  he  had  received  the 
highest  honor.  Though  he  had  been  a  blas- 
phemer, a  persecutor  and  injurious,  he  was 
made  a  minister  and  an  apostle  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  declared  that  he  had  ob- 
tained mercy,  because,  in  opposing  Christ  and 
his  cause,  he  had  acted  ignorantly  and  through 
unbelief  He  did  not  persecute  the  people  of 
God,  knowing  them  to  be  so,  and  because 
they  were  so,  but  because  he  regarded  them  as 
the  enemies  of  God,  and  thought  he  thereby 
did  God  service.  He  subsequently  discovered, 
however,  that  he  had  not  in  the  least  degree 
commended  himself  to  God  by  this  or  any 
other  service — that  his  zeal  and  sincerity  had 
not  been  according  to  knowledge — nor  on  the 
side  of  truth,  but  against  it.  He  was  as  desti- 
tute of  righteousness  in  the  sight  of  God,  as 
though  he  had  never  performed  any  religious 
duty.  Therefore  did  he  "  count  all  things  but 
loss,  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  Jesus   his   Lord."     He    acknowledged 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


"  that,  by  the  gi-ace  of  God  he  was  what  he 
was."  "  Unto  me,  who  am  less  than  the  least 
of  all  saints,  is  this  gi-ace  given,  that  I  should 
preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ." 

Such  were  the  views  he  entertained  of  him- 
self, and  of  the  mercy  he  had  obtained.  Nor 
did  he  consider  that  he  had  been  put  into 
the  ministry  on  account  of  any  worthiness, 
or  faithfulness,  or  usefulness  foreseen.  He 
thanked  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  had  put 
him  into  the  ministry,  and  who  enabled  him 
to  execute  it.  He  who  commissioned  him, 
imparted  to  him  the  gifts  and  grace  which  he 
exercised,  and  made  him  faithful. 

Having  thus  spoken  of  the  exceedingly  abun- 
dant grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  uttered 
the  declaration  recorded  in  the  15th  verse  of 
this  chapter,  which  contains  a  summary  of  the 
whole  gospel. 

The  coming  of  Christ  into  the  world,  was 
the  greatest  and  most  important,  as  well  as 
the  most  wonderful  and  glorious  event  that 
has  ever  occurred  in  time  ;  one  in  which  the 
human  family  is  more  deeply  interested,  and 
in  which  God  has  magnified  his   name  more 


A3 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


than  in  any  other.  The  divine  grace  and  con- 
descension wliich  have  been  thus  manifested 
are  w^ithout  a  parallel,  and  beyond  our  concep- 
tion ;  and  the  benefits  which  have  been  thus  pur- 
chased for  the  children  of  men  are  unspeak- 
able. We  may,  for  the  sake  of  method,  con- 
sider 

I.  The  fact,  and  its  credibility,  that 
Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  vtorld.  What 
does  it  imply  1  How  lias  it  heen  authenticated  ? 
The  apostle  declares  that  "  it  is  a  faithful  say- 
ing, and  vi^orthy  of  all  acceptation." 

II.  The  object  of  His  mission.     He  came 
"  to  save  sinners,  even  the  chief. ^^ 

III.  The  time  of  his  birth,  and  the  man- 
ner of  its  commemoration. 

I.  The  form  of  expression  used  hifthelapostle 
evidently  implies  the  previous  existence  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Scriptures  teach  us 
that  he  was  sent  by  the  Father,  and  at  the 
same  time  that  he  came  voluntarily  and 
[cheerfully  into  the  world.  His  birth  was  not 
the  beginning  of  his  existence.  "  God  sent  forth 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


his  Son,"  one  who  was  his  Son,  who  had  been 
with  God  from  everlasting,  who  was  God  and 
would  have  continued  to  be  God  if  he  had 
never  come  into  this  world.  He  was  a  partaker 
of  the  divine  nature,  *'  being  in  the  form  of  God, 
and  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with 
God."  No  other  could  have  been  "  the  bright- 
ness of  his  Father's  glory"  or  "the  express 
image  of  his  person."  No  other  could  have 
made  known  the  attributes  of  Jehovah  by  repre- 
senting him  to  men  as  "  the  image  of  the  invisi- 
ble God,"  or  have  made  known  the  counsels  of 
eternity.  No  other  could  have  performed  the 
work  which  the  Father  had  given  him  to  do. 
When  he  appeared,  therefore,  in  the  body  which 
had  been  prepared  for  him — "in  that  true  taber- 
nacle which  the  Lord  pitched, and notman" — he 
appeared  as  hnmanucl,  God  with  us,  God  man- 
ifest in  the  flesh.  The  work  of  our  redemption 
must  be  perfoiTned  in  our  nature.  "  Inasmuch 
as  the  children  were  partakers  of  flesh  and 
blood,  he  likewise  took  part  of  the  same,"  that 
he  might  obey  the  law,  and  suffer  for  the  trans- 
gressions of  it  which  the  children  had  commit- 
ted, and  that  "through  death,  he  might  destroy 
death,  and  him  that  had  the  power  of  it,  i.  e.. 


a4 


8  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

the  devil,  and  deliver  them  w^ho  through  the 
fear  of  death  were  all  their  life-time  subject  to 
bondage."  He  must  have  somewhat  to  offer  for 
sin,  and  he  must  in  all  points  be  tempted  like 
as  we  are,  but  without  sin ;  that  he  might  be  a 
merciful  and  faithful  high  priest  in  things  per- 
taining to  God."  "  Without  shedding  of  blood 
there  is  no  remission."  Whilst  the  blood  of 
bulls  and  of  goats  could  never  take  away  sin. 
At  the  same  time  our  redemption  must  be 
wrought  out  by  one  who  was  more  than  man  ; 
by  one  who  had  power  over  his  own  life,  to  lay 
it  down  and  to  take  it  again;  who  could  endure 
the  penalty  of  the  law,  give  infinite  value  to  his 
atonement ;  who  might  live  to  send  the  Holy 
Spirit,  to  quicken  the  dead  in  trespasses  and  in 
sins,  to  sanctify  his  people  who  might  receive 
their  homage  as  their  Saviour,  and  preserve 
them  unto  life  everlasting;  wherefore,  Jesus 
the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  us,  and  whose 
deliffhts  had  been  with  the  sons  of  men  from 
everlasting,  beholding  us  in  our  lost  and  perish- 
ing condition,  said,  "  Save  from  going  down  to 
the  pit ;  I  have  found  a  ransom."  If  sacri- 
fice and  burnt-offering  be  not  sufficient,  "  Lo,  I 
come  :  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


me,  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  my  God."   Thus 
he  came  of  his  own  free  choice,  to  do  the  will 
of  him  that  sent  him.     Those  Jews  who  were 
enlightened  and  waited  for  the  consolation  of 
Israel,  expected  the  Messiah  as  the  Son  of  God. 
When  Jesus  asked  his  disciples,  "Whom  say  ye 
that  I  am  ?      Simon  Peter  answered  and  said. 
Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 
As  such  he   had  been  promised.     The  devils 
which  were  cast  out  by  him   cried  out  saying, 
"  Thou  art  the   Christ,   the   Son  of  the  living 
God."     It  is  also  said,  "  these  are  written  that 
we  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God;"  and  it  is  evident  that 
the  Jews  understood  by  the  Son  of  God,  one 
who  is  God,  in  the  proper  and  highest  sense 
of  that  expression.     When  Jesus  said,  "  My 
Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work,  the  Jews 
sought  the  more  to  kill  him,  because  he  not 
only  had  broken  the  Sabbath,  but  said  also  that 
God  was  his  Father,  making  himself  equal  with 
God.     The  high  priest  said  to  him,  I  adjure  thee 
by  the  living  God,  that  thou  tell  mewhetherthou 
be  tlie  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  X     Jesus  saith  to 
him,  Thou  hast  said  ;"  which  was  equivalent  to 
saying,  I  am.     "  Then  the  high  priest  rent  his 


a5 


10  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


clothes,  saying,  He  has  spoken  blasphemy."  If 
he  meant  no  more  than  that  he  was  called  the 
Son  of  God  on  account  of  his  office,  or  mission, 
or  resurrection,  wherein  consisted  the  blas- 
phemy of  his  reply  1  If  the  Jews  understood 
him  to  say  only  that  he  was  mrtually  in  the 
place  of  God  to  them,  being  sent  as  an  ambassa- 
dor, as  Moses  was  a  god  to  Pharaoh,  then  why 
did  they  cry  out  blasphemy,  and  for  that  blas- 
phemy put  him  to  death  ?  If  they  understood 
him  correctly,  as  they  undoubtedly  did — for  he 
did  not  complain  of  havingbeen  misunderstood — 
then  what  becomes  of  the  figment  of  those  who 
say  that  the  Jews  had  no  idea  that  Jesus  taught 
his  pre-existence  and  proper  divinity,  and  that  he 
never  asserted  either  ? 

But  how  do  we  know  that  Jesus  came  into 
the  world,  that  this  is  a  true  and  faithful 
saying,  to  be  relied  upon  with  perfect  confi- 
dence, and  that  it  is  "  worthy  of  all  accepta- 
tion ?"  In  addition  to  the  testimony  of  the 
apostle  in  this  place,  we  may  reply  that  it  was 
promised  immediately  after  the  fall  of  our  first 
parents ;  that  it  was  the  subject  of  repeated 
prophecies,  and  was  represented  by  various 
typical  institutions.     The  principal   design  of 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


11 


the  Old  Testament  scriptures  and  worship  was 
to  reveal  the  Messiah,  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
and  to  shadow  forth  his  offices  and  work.  "  To 
him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness,"  whilst  he 
was  the  substance  of  all  the  types  and  shadows 
of  the  law.  The  first  prediction  of  him  was 
general  and  indefinite — no  more  was  revealed 
than  that  he  should  be  of  the  human  family.  He 
who  was  to  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent,  who 
was  to  break  up  the  alliance  which  had  been 
formed  between  man  and  Satan ;  was  to  be  the 
"  seed  of  the  woman."  The  same  revelation  of 
God's  purpose  of  grace  and  mercy  to  man  was 
made  to  Abraham,  designating /^m  asthe  great 
progenitor  according  to  the  flesh,  of  the  prom- 
ised seed.  It  was  said  to  him,  "  In  thee,  and  in 
thy  seed,  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
blessed."  From  that  period  the  promise  of  the 
coming  Saviour  was  made  in  a  more  restricted 
and  definite  foiTn.  It  was  to  be  fulfilled  in  the 
line  of  Isaac  and  of  Jacob,  conferring  on  the 
nation  of  Israel  the  signal  honor  of  giving  to  the 
world  a  Saviour.  Out  of  the  twelve  tribes  one 
was  selected  and  named,  from  which  Messiah 
was  to  spring.  "  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart 
from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgriver  from  between  his 


a6 


12  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

feet,  until  Shiloh  come  ;  and  unto  him  shall  the 
gathering  of  the  people  be."  Subsequently  the 
Lord  raised  up  out  of  that  tribe  the  royal  fam- 
ily of  David,  of  whose  seed,  according  to  the 
flesh,  it  was  promised  that  Christ  should  come. 

Such  was  to  be  the  lineage  of  the  Messiah ; 
and  according  to  these  predictions,  designating 
his  nation,  tribe  and  family,  was  he  expected. 
The  Jews  understood  well  that  Christ  was  to 
come  "  of  the  family  of  David,  of  the  tribe  of  Ju- 
dah,  and  of  the  seed  of  Abraham."  That  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  did  come  in  this  line  and  accordinsr 

o 

to  this  promise,  is  attested  by  the  Evangelists 
who  have  written  his  history,  and  was  not  denied 
at  the  time  of  his  manifestation  in  the  flesh.  Until 
then,  the  genealogies  of  the  tribes  and  families 
of  Israel  had  been  carefully  kept.  The  Evan- 
gelists had  access  to  them,  and  copied  them ; 
Matthew  giving  us  the  genealogy  of  Joseph,  the 
reputed  father  of  Jesus,  and  Luke  the  geneal- 
ogy of  Mary  his  mother,  to  prove  satisfactorily 
that  both  on  the  side  of  his  father  and  mother, 
according  to  the  flesh,  Christ  came  in  fulfilment 
of  the  promise  and  predictions  of  him.  This 
was    one  of  the    modes   by   which  God   was 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


13 


pleased  to  designate  the  true  Messiah,  and  by 
which  he  might  be  distinguished  from  impos- 
tors. 

Another  mark  by  which  he  was  to  be  recog- 
nized, was  the  time  within  which  he  was  to 
appear.  The  first  and  least  definite  period  within 
which  he  was  to  appear,  was  whilst  Judah  should 
continue  the  governing  tribe  of  Israel.  In  the 
next  place  it  was  predicted  that  he  should  set 
up  his  kingdom  during  the  existence  of  the 
Roman  empire.  Daniel  declared,  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  king's  dream,  "  that  in  the  days 
of  those  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a 
kingdom  which  shall  never  be  destroyed."  He 
was  to  come,  also,  before  the  destruction  of  the 
second  Temple.  "  I  will  shake  all  nations,  saith 
the  Lord,"  by  the  prophet  Haggai,  "  and  the 
Desire  of  all  nations  shall  come,  and  I  will  fill 
this  house  with  my  glory,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts.  The  silver  is  mine  and  the  gold  is  mine, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts  :  the  glory  of  this  lat- 
ter house  shall  be  greater  than  that  of  the  for- 
mer, saith  the  Lord  of  hosts;  and  in  this  place 
will  1  give  peace." 

It   is    well    known    that  the    outward   and 
material  splendor  of  the  second  Temple  could 


14 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


not  be  compared  with  that  of  the  former.  But 
it  was  the  personal  presence  of  the  Saviour 
in  the  second  Temple,  which  was  to  make  it 
more  glorious  than  the  first.  Still  farther,  that 
there  might  be  no  mistake  as  to  the  time, 
the  Lord,  in  his  infinite  condescension,  saw 
fit  to  reveal  and  specify  the  definite  period  of 
his  coming.  An  angel  was  commissioned  to 
declare  to  Daniel,  saying,  "Seventy  weeks  are 
determined  upon  thy  people  and  upon  thy  holy 
city,  to  finish  the  transgression  and  to  make  an 
end  of  sins,  and  to  make  reconciliation  for 
iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteous- 
ness, and  to  seal  up  the  vision  of  prophecy  and 
to  anoint  the  Most  Holy  ;  know,  therefore,  and 
understand,  that  from  the  going  forth  of  the 
commandment  to  restore  and  build  Jerusalem, 
unto  the  Messiah  the  Prince,  shall  be  seventy 
weeks,  and  three  score  and  two  weeks."  This 
language  was  understood  by  those  who  searched 
the  scriptures,  and  waited  for  the  fulfilment  of 
the  promise.  Counting  days  for  years,  they 
had  a  period  of  four  hundred  and  ninety  years 
within  which  Messiah  was  to  appear  and  to  be 
cut  off,  but  not  for  himself.  It  was  this  predic- 
tion which  caused  many  of  the  Jews,  and  of 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  15 

the  suiTounding  nations  with  whom  they  had 
intercourse,  to  expect  the  advent  of  the  Messiah 
at  the  time  of  his  coming,  and  it  was  the  gen- 
eral expectation  of  his  appearance  which  occa- 
sioned the  rising  up  of  so  many  false  Christs 
about  that  period.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  did 
come,  according  to  this  prediction.  Although 
the  Jews  as  a  nation  were  subject  to  the  Ro- 
mans, they  still  had  laws  and  a  sub-government 
of  their  own,  the  executive  power  of  which  was 
lodged  in  the  tribe  of  Judah.  It  is  also  true 
that  the  sceptre  was  just  departing  from  Judah 
when  the  Messiah,  the  Shiloh,  came  into  the 
world.  He  appeared  during  the  existence  of 
the  Roman  empire ;  "  in  the  days  of  those  kings 
did  he  set  up  his  kingdom."  He  saw  the 
second  Temple,  came  to  it,  purged  it,  and  made 
peace  there.  The  veil  of  it  was  rent,  and  the 
middle  wall  of  partition  was  taken  down  by 
him. 

Again.  The  place  of  his  birth  was  designated. 
It  was  foretold  by  Micah  the  prophet,  saying, 
"  But  thou,  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou 
be  little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out 
of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be 
ruler  in  Israel,  whose  goings  forth  have  been 


16  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH, 

from  of  old,  from  everlasting,"  without  any  pro- 
fessed reference  to  this  scripture,  and  without 
any  intention  of  fulfilling  it  on  the  part  of  those 
who  were  immediately  concerned,  it  was  in  a 
most  remarkable  manner  literally  fulfilled.  In 
the  providence  of  God,  the  whole  Roman  empire 
was  shaken.,  and  the  mother  of  Jesus,  in  obedi- 
ence to  a  decree  of  the  civil  authority,  but  con- 
trary to  her  own  design,  went  to  Bethlehem, 
where  Jesus  was  born. 

His  personal  character,  together  with  the 
nature  and  design  of  his  mission,  were  fore- 
told. He  was  to  *'  be  a  man  of  sorrows  and 
acquainted  with  grief;"  to  be  a  great  sufferer, 
and  yet  to  be  a  pattern  of  meekness  ;  "  to  be 
led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter."  He  was 
not  to  "  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  voice 
to  be  heard  in  the  streets."  He  was  to  be  one 
who  should  go  about  doing  good,  and  who 
would  perform  many  miracles  of  the  most 
benevolent  kind — such  as  healing  the  sick, 
opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  unstopping  the 
ears   of  the  deaf  and  raising  the   dead. 

The  treatment  he  was  to  receive  and  the 
manner  of  his  death  were  also  the  subjects  of 
prophecy.     He    was   to    be    "  despised    and 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  17 

rejected"  of  men,  to  have  every  indignity  and 
unmerited  reproach  heaped  upon  him,  and  to 
be  put  to  death  in  a  violent  manner. 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  collect  from  the 
scriptures  w^hich  were  written  before  the 
coming  of  Christ,  his  life  and  character,  as 
they  were  developed  during  his  personal  minis- 
try. It  is  well  known  that  every  prediction 
was  accurately  fulfilled,  and  every  type  fully 
answered  by  him.  Angels  were  sent  to 
announce  his  advent;  many  signs  and  wonders 
were  wrought  on  his  account,  as  well  as  by 
himself,  to  identify  him  as  the  long  expected 
Messiah.  The  Father  bore  witness  to  him  as 
his  well-beloved  son,  in  whom  he  was  well 
pleased  ;  whilst  the  son  himself  declared,  say- 
ing, "  I  am  he." 

Besides  these  infallible  marks  by  which  the 
Messiah  was  to  be  recognized,  there  were 
predictions  respecting  the  state  of  the  nation 
of  Israel  and  the  Church,  respecting  events 
which  were  to  occur  subsequently  to  his  com- 
ing, the  fulfilment  of  which  would  leave 
no  room  to  doubt  whether  the  Messiah  had 
come,  or  whether  Jesus  of  Nazareth  were  he. 
According  to  these  predictions,  a  signal  and 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


exterminating  desolation  was  to  come  upon  the 
Jews.  Their  church-state  was  to  be  changed 
and  their  exclusive  privileges  to  be  forfeited. 
They  were  to  become  "not  the  people  of  God  ; 
to  be  without  a  king,  without  a  priest,  without 
a  temple  or  sacrifices,  whilst  the  Church  was 
to  be  perpetuated  and  her  borders  greatly 
enlarged  by  the  calling  of  another  people. 

All  these,  and  other  predictions,  have  been  ful- 
filled in  a  most  melancholy  and  painfully  faithful 
manner  to  the  Jews.  Their  city,  their  temple, 
their  church-state,  have  all  been  destroyed. 
The  kingdom  was  taken  from  them,  and  to  this 
day  they  remain  in  exile.  These  events,  which 
were  to  be  the  signs  and  evidence  that  Christ 
had  come,  having  occurred,  it  is  evident  they 
cannot  occur  a  second  time  to  designate  any 
other  person  as  the  Messiah.  If  such  an  one 
were  promised,  as  all  the  Old  Testament  scrip- 
tures declare,  and  as  the  general  expectation 
of  the  nations  at  the  time  of  his  coming  proved 
that  he  had  been,  either  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
was  that  person,  or  the  scriptures  have  been 
broken,  and  the  promised  Messiah  can  never 
come,  according  to  the  predictions  of  him.  The 
tiibe  and  the  royal  family  in  the  line  of  which  he 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  19 


was  to  come,  cannot  be  distinguished.  The  Ro- 
man government,  under  which  he  was  to  be  cru- 
cified, and  during  the  existence  of  which  he  was 
to  set  up  his  kingdom,  has  long  since  passed 
away.  The  second  Temple,  which  was  to  be 
rendered  more  glorious  than  the  first  by  the  per- 
sonal presence  of  Messiah  in  it,  has  long  since 
been  destroyed.  The  time  of  his  first  coming 
has  long  since  expired.  The  seventy  weeks  of 
Daniel  have  been  accomplished  over  and  over 
again,  and  yet  no  Shiloh,  no  Messiah  has  come, 
if  Jesus  Christ  were  not  that  person. 

But  the  scriptures  have  not  been,  and  cannot 
be  broken.  He  who  was  the  Desire  of  all  nations 
has  come.  "  In  the  fulness  of  time  God  did  send 
forth  his  Son.  Unto  us  a  child  was  born, unto  us 
a  son  was  given ;  and  the  government  is  upon  his 
shoulders,  and  his  name  is  called,  the  Wonder- 
ful, Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlast- 
ing Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace."  It  is  a  true 
and  faithful  saying,  having  been  confii-med  in 
the  most  satisfactory  manner,  that  Christ  Jesus 
has  come  into  the  world.  He  was  sent  by  the 
Father,  as  the  highest  expression  of  his  love.  He 
testified  by  a  voice  from  heaven  thathe  was  his 
son.     The  same  was  also  proved  by  palpable 


20  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

miracles — by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
from  the  dead,  and  by  the  mission  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  imparting  miraculous  endowments  to  the 
apostles,  qualifynig  them  to  be  his  witnesses. 

It  is  equally  true  that  he  came  to  save  sinners, 
even  the  chief,  and  that  *'  whosoever  believeth 
on  him  shall  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life,"  which  leads  us  to  notice, 

II.  The  ohject  of  Ms  mission.  He  came  "to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost ;  to  call,  not  the 
righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance  ;"  teaching 
us  that  all  are  sinners,  and  as  such,  are  lost.  To 
enable  us  to  understand  the  nature  and  extent 
of  his  work  as  a  Saviour,  we  must  be  acquainted 
with  the  condition  of  man  as  a  sinner,  for  he 
came  to  do  all  that  was  necessary  to  reinstate 
man  in  the  favor  of  God,  to  restore  in  him  the 
image  of  God,  and  to  bring  him  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  God  as  his  portion  here  and  hereafter. 
He  came  to  perform  a  work  adapted  to  the 
necessities  of  sinners,  so  that  we  may  learn 
their  state  and  character  from  what  he  actually 
accomplished.  "  If  one  died  for  all,  then  were 
all  dead."  Yet  few  are  conscious  of  their  lost 
state.     One  reason  why  the  Jews  were  igno- 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  21 

rant  of  the  character  and  nature  of  the  work  of 
Messiah,  was  their  ignorance  of  their  own  char- 
acter and  wants  as  sinners,  not  being  conscious 
of  their  need  of  an  atonement,  other  than  what 
they  had  in  their  typical  sacrifices,  and  mistak- 
ing the  nature  of  that  righteousness  which  the 
law  requires  for  justification,  they  felt  not  and 
could  not  perceive  the  necessity  of  his  humili- 
ation, sufferings  and  death,  but  were  offended 
by  them.  They  expected  that  the  prophecies 
relating  to  his  second  coming  would  be  fulfilled 
by  him  at  his  first  advent,  not  understanding 
that  he  mn^t  first  suffer,  and  then  enter  into  his 
glory.  Therefore,  when  he  appeared  as  a  suf- 
fering Saviour,  that  he  might  be  "the  Lord  our 
righteousness  and  strength,"  he  was  to  them  a 
stumbling-block,  whilst  they  went  about  to  estab- 
lish a  righteousness  of  their  own,  and  trusted  in 
themselves  that  they  could  do  so.  Those  who 
are  of  their  mind  and  spirit,  and  who  are  imitat- 
ing their  example  in  this  respect,  can  see  no 
excellency  in  the  Saviour,  and  do  not  feel  their 
need  of  his  great  salvation.  They  have  no  just 
sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  nor  of  what  it  deserves. 
But  however  some  men  may  view  the  incar- 
nation and  atonement  of  Christ,  whatever  may 


22 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


be  thought  of  the  promised  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  or  though  both  maybe  neglected, they  are 
equally  necessary  and  essential  to  our  salvation. 
If  the  Saviour  had  come  according  to  the  car- 
nal expectations  of  men  and  in  the  character  in 
w^hich  he  w^as  expected  by  the  Jews,  he  would 
not  have  been  a  Saviourfrom  the  wrath  to  come; 
he  would  not  have  been  a  mediator  to  effect  a 
reconcliation  between  God  and  man  ;  he  could 
not  have  opened  the  gates  of  heaven,  nor  have 
purchased  eternal  life  for  sinners.  The  Jews 
had  lost  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  of 
the  spiritual  nature  and  extent  of  his  holy  law, 
whilst  the  other  nations  were  emphatically 
without  God  and  without  hope,  "darkness  cov- 
ered the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people." 
So  general  was  the  defection  from  the  truth, 
so  universal  was  the  apostacy,  that  it  might  be 
said  with  truth,  "  they  have  all  gone  out  of  the 
way ;  they  have  together  become  unprofitable ; 
there  is  none  that  doeth  good  ;  no  not  one  :  there 
is  none  that  understandeth  ;  there  is  none  that 
seeketh  after  God."  The  way  of  truth,  the  way 
of  righteousness,  the  way  of  justification  by 
faith,  and  of  eternal  life,  was  not  known ;  where- 
fore Jesus  came  to  make  known  the  Father,  to 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


declare  his  counsels  and  his  will,  to  display  his 
attributes,  to  interpret  his  law  and  to  fulfil  it, 
and  to  reveal  the  methods  of  his  grace.  He 
came  as  the  gi-eat  Teacher  sent  from  God,  to 
correct  the  errors,  fabulous  traditions  and 
corruptions  of  the  truth,  which  had  been  intro- 
duced into  his  Church,  and  to  "preach  right- 
eousness in  the  great  congregation." 

2dly.  Men  are  guilty  as  well  as  ignorant. 
They  are  under  a  just  sentence  of  condemna- 
tion :  "  all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God."  The  law  cannot  be  dispensed 
with  :  it  is  unchangeable,  and  must  be  exe- 
cuted, or  God  would  deny  himself,  which  is 
impossible.  Sin  cannot  be  pardoned  by  an 
act  of  sovereignty,  for  God  is  just  as  well  as 
merciful.  The  wages  of  sin  must  be  paid, 
the  penalty  of  the  broken  law  must  be  en- 
dured :  therefore  Christ  "  was  made  under  the 
law,  that  he  might  redeem  them  that  were  under 
the  law,"  and  "  was  made  a  curse,  to  deliver  us 
from  the  curse  of  the  law."  He  came  to  "  give 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many,  and  died,  the  just  for 
the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God." 
The  demands   of  the  law  against  the  sinner 


24  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

were  made  upon  him,  and  he  answered  them 
fully. 

Having  taken  the  place  of  those  whom  he 
came  to  redeem,  he  must  have  experience  of 
what  it  is  to  be  in  their  lot.  They  had 
deserved  sorrow  and  grief,  shame  and  spit- 
ting, to  be  despised  and  rejected,  and  cast  out 
as  evil,  for  they  had  made  themselves  outcasts. 
They  deserved  to  be  wounded  and  bruised,  to 
endure  agony,  to  suffer  a  painful,  ignominious 
and  accursed  death,  and  to  continue  under  the 
power  of  it  for  ever.  Therefore  Jesus  became 
"  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief, 
and  hid  not  his  face  from  shame  and  spitting." 
He  willingly  submitted  to  every  privation ;  was 
"  despised  and  rejected  of  men,  set  at  naught 
and  cast  out  as  evil.  He  was  wounded  for 
our  transgressions,  and  bruised  for  our  iniqui- 
ties :  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon 
him,  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed."  He 
endured  the  agony  of  the  garden,  and  "became 
obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross."  Being  God  as  well  as  man,  his  suffer- 
ino-s  and  death  were  of  infinite  value  as  an 
atonement  for  our  sins,  and  were  efficacious  to 
redeem  us  from  death.     "  By  the   one  offering 


JESUS    OP    NAZARETH. 


25 


up  of  himself,  he  for  ever  perfected  them  that 
are  sanctified."  If  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of 
goats,  and  the  sprij:ikling  the  ashes  of  an 
heifer,  sanctified  to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh," 
how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  "  who, 
through  the  eternal  Spirit,  offered  himself 
without  spot  unto  God,  purge  your  conscience 
from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God  ?" 

But  pardon  is  not  the  whole  of  our  justifica- 
tion. It  does  not  entitle  us  to  life,  nor  restore 
lost  character.  There  must  be  a  righteous- 
ness also,  perfect  obedience  to  the  law,  as  the 
ground  of  our  justification  in  the  sight  of  it. 
Man,  in  his  fallen  state,  is  destitute  of  this,  and 
is  without  strength  to  establish  it  by  his  own 
personal  obedience.  Not  only  can  he  make 
no  atonement  for  his  sins  ;  he  cannot,  when 
all  his  sins  are  pardoned,  render  that  perfect 
obedience  to  the  law  which  it  requires,  and 
which  has  the  promise  of  eternal  life  :  where- 
fore the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  fulfilled  all  righte- 
ousness. Though  he  were  a  Son,  yet  learned 
he  obedience  "  by  the  things  which  he  suffered." 
"He  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness,  to 
every  one  that  belie veth."  So  that  his  people 
may  say,  "  In  the  Lord  have  we  righteousness 


26  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

and  strength,"  and  now  God  "  can  be  just,  and 
yet  justify  the  ungodly  which  beUeveth  in 
Jesus.". 

3dly.  Men,  as  fallen,  are  depraved ;  their 
understandings  are  darkened  with  respect  to 
spiritual  things ;  their  hearts  are  hard  and 
alienated  from  the  life  of  God  ;  their  carnal 
minds  "  are  enmity  against  God,  not  subject  to 
his  law,  neither  indeed  can  be."  The  imme- 
diate effect  of  sin  on  the  soul  is  spiritual  death. 
Those  who  love  it  and  are  under  its  influence, 
are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  "  The  natural 
man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  :  they  are  foolishness  unto  him  ;  neither 
can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually 
discerned  ;"  wherefore,  Christ  has  graciously 
promised  to  send  the  Spirit,  "  to  convince  of  sin, 
of  righteousness  and  of  judgment,"  to  quicken 
the  dead,  to  enlighten  the  mind,  to  renew  the 
heart  and  to  regenerate  the  soul ;  and  he  is 
faithful  to  perform  what  he  has  promised.  He 
does  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask,  to 
work  faith  in  them,  and  repentance  and  new 
obedience. 

Again  ;  fallen  men  are  spiritually  impo- 
tent,   even    after  they   have    been    renewed. 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  27 

They  have  arduous  duties  to  perform ;  they 
are  called  to  endure  severe  conflicts  and  trials ; 
they  are  exposed  to  many  and  great  dangers, 
whilst  in  themselves,  they  are  vv^eak,  not 
sufficient  even  to  think  anything  as  of  them- 
selves. But  they  have  the  promise  of  the 
presence  and  support  of  the  Saviour.  He  has 
said,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway ;  my  grace 
is  sufficienf^for  thee  ;  I  will  never  leave  thee 
nor  forsake  thee ;"  and  "  through  Christ  strength- 
ening them,  they  can  do  all  things." 

Such  is  averybrief  description  of  the  state  and 
necessities  of  sinners,  and  of  the  work  which 
Christ  came  to  perform,  that  he  might  effect 
their  salvation.  Such  is  the  work  which  he  has 
actually  performed.  "Though  he  was  rich, 
yet  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  we 
through  his  poverty  might  be  rich."  He 
has  also  acquired  an  experience  which  fits 
him  to  be  a  "  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest 
for  us  in  things  pertaining  to  God."  He  knows 
our  frames,  and  "  remembers  that  we  are 
but  dust,"  and  feels  a  pure  and  lively  sympathy 
with  all  his  members.  "  In  all  their  afflictions 
he  is  afflicted."     Having  been  "made  perfect 


28  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

through  sufferings,  he  is  able  to  save  unto  the 
uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God  by  him." 

III.  With  regard  to  the  specific  time  of  his 
birth,  and  the  manner  of  commemorating  it, 
there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  and  of  prac- 
tice. It  is  well  known  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  Christian  Church  observe  one  day  in  each 
year  in  commemoration  of  the  birth  of  Christ, 
although  there  is  no  certain  record  of  the  day, 
nor  even  of  the  month  in  which  it  occurred. 
It  is  also  well  known,  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  Presbyterian  branch  of  the  Church  do  not 
observe  such  a  day.  The  uncertainty  of  the 
time,  however,  of  the  Saviour's  nativity,  is  not 
the  only  nor  the  principal  reason  why  we  do 
not  observe  Christmas,  as  it  is  called,  on  the 
25th  of  December,  as  some  observe  it.  As 
Protestants,  we  require  a  waiTant  from  the 
Bible   for    every   religious    observance. 

We  object  to  its  origin.  It  was  not  appointed 
by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  nor  by  his  apostles. 
They  neither  observed  such  a  day,  nor  required 
others  to  obsei-ve  it.  But  if  the  observance  of 
it  had  been  necessary  to  the  well-being  or 
prosperity  of  the  Church — if  it  had  been  re- 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  29 

quired  for  the  promotion  of  personal  piety,  for 
the  spiritual  growth  or  comfort  of  his  people — 
if  it  could  have  answered  any  salutary  end,  it 
would  have  been  appointed  by  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church.  He  loved  the  Church  and 
gave  himself  for  it,  that  he  might  wash  and 
cleanse  it,  and  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious 
Church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any 
such  thing.  Surely  he  did  not  lack  the  dispo- 
sition, nor  the  wisdom  and  foreknowledge 
which  were  necessary  to  qualify  him  to  make 
all  appointments,  and  to  institute  all  ordi- 
nances, which  might  be  required  for  the  pre- 
servation, peace  and  purity  of  the  Church, 
for  the  awakening  of  pious  and  devotional 
feelings  in  her  members,  and  for  their  sanctifi- 
cation. 

The  Church  or  the  civil  magistrate  may 
recommend  the  observance  of  days  of  fasting 
and  prayer,  or  of  thanksgiving,  occasionally, 
when  the  providence  of  God  is  sufficiently 
marked  to  call  for  such  recommendations.  But 
men  have  no  right  to  institute  new  and  perma- 
nent religious  observances,  nor  can  they  bind 
the  conscience  ;  God  only  is  the  Head  and 
Lawgiver  of  the    Church,    and  Lord   of   the 


30  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

conscience.  This  day  has  been  appointed  by- 
human  authority,  and  has  now  the  sanction  of 
tradition  and  of  usage  only  for  its  observance. 
There  is  no  certain  record  nor  reliable  witness 
to  prove  that  any  feast  in  honor  of  the  nativity 
of  Christ  was  observed  before  the  fourth 
century.  James  Pierce,  in  his  Vindication  of 
the  Disse7iters — a  book  published  in  1717 — 
says  that  the  most  probable  origin  of  the 
observance  of  the  day  which  he  had  been 
enabled  to  find,  is,  that  it  was  invented  by  the 
heretical  followers  of  Basilides.  He  tran- 
scribes a  notable  passage  from  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  from  which  it  appears  that  those 
heretics  celebrated  the  feast  of  Christ's'  bap- 
tism, if  not  also  of  his  nativity,  at  the  right  time 
of  the  year,  as  they  persuaded  themselves,  and 
that  the  Catholics  were  uncertain  of  the  true 
time  of  his  birth,  and  kept  no  holy  day  in 
memory  of  it.  "  There  are  some,"  says  he, 
"  who,  with  greater  curiosity,  fix  not  only  the 
year,  but  the  day  our  Saviour  was  bora ; 
which  they  say  was  the  twenty-eighth  year  of 
Augustus,  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  the 
month  Pochan.  The  followers  of  Basilides 
celebrate  also  the  day  of  his  baptism,  spending 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  31 

the  whole  night  before  in  reading.  They  say 
it  was  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Tiberius,  on  the 
fifteenth  day  of  the  month  Tubi.  Some  say  it 
was  the  eleventh  of  that  month  ;  nay,  some 
say  he  was  bom  the  twenty -fourth  or  twenty- 
fifth  of  the  month  Phormuthi."  But  neither  of 
these  dates  will  fall  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
December.  The  fathers  of  the  fourth  century 
imitated  Basilides'  followers,  for  then  first  w^as 
the  festival  of  Christ's  baptism  instituted  ;  that 
of  his  nativity  being  removed  from  the  sixth 
of  January  to  the  twenty-fifth  of  December,  as 
Causaban  has  observed  :  "  From  that  time," 
says  he,  "the  sixth  of  January  retained  the 
name  of  the  Epiphany;  but  they  began  to  give  a 
different  reason  of  the  appellation  from  what 
they  did  before.  For  that  day,  that  was  before 
kept  as  the  feast  of  his  nativity,  was  then 
obsei-ved  as  the  day  of  his  baptism,  and  of  the 
coming  of  the  wise  men  of  the  East;"  p.  222. 
The  same  author  shows  conclusively,  also, 
that  the  story  of  Nicephorus,  [the  object  of 
which  was  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  the  observ- 
ance of  Christmas,]  of  the  burning  of  20,000 
Christians,  who  were  celebrating  the  birth  of 
Christ  in  a  temple  of  Nicomedia,  is  fabulous. 


32  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

We  say  concerning  this  day,  either  it  is  a 
holy  (lay,  or  it  is  not.  If  it  be  a  holy  day,  we 
must  find  some  record  of  its  appointment  in 
the  word  of  God,  and  then  it  should  be  kept 
as  a  holy  day,  as  the  Christian  Sabbath  is  kept. 
The  whole  of  it  should  be  devoted  to  exer- 
cises of  religious  worship,  .and  then  it  would 
lose  all  its  charms  in  the  eyes  of  many  of  those 
who  are  the  most  strenuous  advocates  for  its 
observance.  If  it  be  not  a  holy  day — as  it 
surely  is  not,  for  we  have  no  record  of  its 
appointment,  nor  of  its  observance  during  the 
first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian  Church  ; 
neither  is  the  whole  day  kept  as  a  holy  day  by 
any  denomination  of  Christians — then  and 
therefore,  we  feel  under  no  obligations  to 
observe  it.  We  may  as  well  meet  for  public 
worship  on  any  other  day,  and  we  may  as  well 
observe  any  other  day  as  a  day  of  festivity  and 
rejoicing.  We  very  much  question,  however, 
either  the  wisdom  or  propriety  of  observing 
that  or  any  other  day  in  this  twofold  character, 
mixing  things  sacred  and  profane. 

If  the  Church  has  authority  to  appoint  one 
such  day,  she  may  appoint  more,  and  there  may 
be  no  limit  to  the  number  of  them,  and  then  she 


JESUS    OP    NAZARETH.  33 

must  have  authority  to  enforce  the  observance  of 
them.  She  has  the  right  to  compel  conformity, 
w^hich  is  to  make  her  a  persecuting  Church — 
all  this  is  matter  of  history.  She  has  appointed 
such  days,  and  multiplied  them.  She  has 
asserted  the  right  of  enforcing  the  observance 
of  them,  and  of  compelling  conformity  to  her 
canons,  and  thus  has  usurped,  the  divine  pre- 
rogative, depriving  of  liberty  of  conscience 
those  whom  Christ  had  made  free,  and  destroy- 
ing the  souls  of  men.  What  has  been,  may  be 
again. 

We  object  to  the  observance,  because 
it  is  unnecessary.  This  is  indeed  implied  in 
the  omission  of  the  Saviour  to  appoint  it,  yet 
it  is  said  we  require  it.  It  is  true,  we  require 
to  be  reminded  of  the  great  "  mystery  of  god- 
liness, God  manifest  in  the  flesh."  And  are  we 
not  reminded  of  it  by  his  Word,  by  the  sacra- 
ments of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
by  the  Sabbath  ?  His  death  and  resurrection 
are  to  be  commemorated,  and  of  necessity  his 
birth  and  the  object  of  his  mission,  not  once  a 
year  merely,  but  from  week  to  week,  and  daily, 
in  all  our  devotional  exercises.  To  quote  the 
words    of  another,   (Clement  of  Alexandria,) 


34  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


"  we  are  commanded  to  worship  and  honor  this 
same  person,  who  we  are  persuaded  is  the 
Word,  the  Saviour  and  Ruler,  and  through  him, 
the  Father — not  upon  select  days,  as  some 
others  do — but  we  do  it  ahvays,  and  by  all 
manner  of  ways,  through  the  whole  course  of 
our  lives." 

To  judge  from  the  arguments  of  some,  in 
favor  of  the  observance  of  such  a  day,  we 
should  be  led  to  suppose  that  there  was  no 
other  time  or  opportunity  to  think  or  speak  of 
Christianity,  of  its  evidences,  of  its  claims,  of  its 
conservative  and  salutary  influence,  of  its  con- 
quests and  ultimate  universal  prevalence,  ex- 
cept on  Christmas  days. 

It  should  be  recollected  that  God  has 
appointed  a  weekly  Sabbath  expressly  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  instruction  on  these  subjects, 
to  call  the  attention  of  the  whole  community  to 
their  obligations  to  God  for  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ,  to  awaken  in  them  a  thank- 
ful remembrance  of  those  mercies  which  he 
has  bestowed  upon  us  through  the  mediation 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  call  upon  them  to  praise 
him  as  he  has  revealed  himself,  not  only  in  his 
works  and  word,  but  also  in  the  person  of  his 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  35 

Son.  There  is  no  subject  proper  to  be  con- 
sidered on  a  Christmas  day,  which  may  not  be 
properly  considered  on  the  Lord's  day;  nor 
is  there  any  service  appropriately  to  be  per- 
formed on  that  day,  which  may  not,  with  equal 
propriety,  be  performed  on  the  Sabbath.  In- 
stead of  enjoying  the  mercies  and  privileges  of 
such  a  day,  once  a  year,  we  may  enjoy  them 
weekly,  by  the  good  and  wise  and  merciful 
appointment  of  our  heavenly  Father.  To  add 
to  his  appointments  is  to  reflect  on  his  wisdom 
and  goodness. 

Again ;  the  argument  in  favor  of  the  observ- 
ance of  such  a  day  must  be  drawn  entirely 
from  expediency.  This  is  to  refer  the  decision 
of  the  question  to  blinded  reason,  and  to  every 
man's  opinion ;  hence  are  there  so  many  dif- 
ferent views  of  what  may  be  judged  expedient. 
To  us  it  appears  inexpedient,  and  injurious 
to  the  interests  of  religion,  to  open  the  door 
for  the  appointment  and  multiplication  of  holy 
days,  or  permanently  to  observe  as  a  holy  day 
any  other  than  the  weekly  Sabbath.  The 
principle  involved  in  such  appointments  and 
practice,  is,  in  our  estimation,  highly  objec- 
tionable and  dangerous.     And  our  judgment 


36 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


on  this  subject  is  not  a  matter  of  conjecture, 
but  has  been  formed  and  confirmed  by  the 
history  of  the  observance  of  such  days,  and  the 
experience  of  the  Church  in  all  past  time. 
There  is  a  necessary  tendency  in  the  adoption 
of  this  principle,  "that  the  Church  has  power  to 
appoint  days,  and  must  be  governed  by  expe- 
diency in  doing  so,"  to  increase  them.  This 
has  been  the  case  in  those  branches  of  the 
Church  which  have  acted  upon  it.  They  have 
so  multiplied  them,  that  there  are  not  days 
enough  in  the  year  for  the  commemoration  of 
what  they  consider  important  events.  But 
this  is  not  all :  there  is  a  tendency  to  magnify 
their  importance,  and  to  exaggerate  their  sanc- 
tity, and  thus  to  diminish  the  respect  and  reve- 
rence for  the  holy  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  our 
God  in  the  minds  of  those  who  observe  them. 
It  is  notorious,  that,  wherever  Popery  pre- 
vails to  the  exclusion  of  Protestantism,  there  is 
no  Christian  Sabbath  ; — there  are  religious  ser- 
vices on  a  part  of  the  Lord's  Day,  and  on  the 
rest  of  the  day  amusements,  fetes,  military 
parades,  feasting  and  rioting.  Even  among  our- 
selves, the  day  which  is  said  to  commemorate 
the  birth  of  Christ,  is  regarded  by  some  with 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  37 

peculiar  reverence,  as  more  sacred  than  the 
Sabbath  ;  a  part  of  it  is  observed  with  super- 
stitious strictness,  vv^hilst  the  remainder  of  it  is 
devoted  to  social  intercourse  and  the  pleasures 
of  the  table.  It  is  considered  of  far  more 
importance  to  partake  of  the  sacrament  on  that 
day,  than  on  any  other  day  of  the  year.  Is 
not  this  a  wrong  feeling,  founded  in  error  1 
Can  the  day,  appointed  by  men,  add  sacredness 
or  solemnity  to  the  divine  and  holy  ordinances 
of  God  ?  We  learn  from  the  history  of  the 
Church,  that  these  fears  are  not  without  foun- 
dation. These  tendencies  and  feelings  have 
been  developed  in  other  times.  In  the  year 
1644,  under  Charles  the  First,  of  England, 
"  when  both  Houses  of  Parliament  were  consid- 
ering grievances  and  passing  acts  for  the  refor- 
mation of  the  Church,  the  festival  of  Christmas 
occurred  on  the  day  which  had  been  appointed 
to  be  observed  as  a  monthly  fast.  The  ques- 
tion was  agitated  by  the  ministers  of  London, 
and  by  the  Parliament,  whether  they  should 
observe  a  fast,  or  have  a  festival,  on  that  day. 
It  was  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  ministers 
in  favor  of  the  festival;  but  the  Parliament 
issued  an  order  for  the  observance  of  the  fast. 


38 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


and  that  with  the  more  solemn  humiliation, 
because,  say  they,  *  it  may  call  to  remembrance 
our  sins,  and  the  sins  of  our  forefathers  who 
have  turned  this  feast — pretending  to  honor  the 
memory  of  Christ — into  an  extreme  forgetful- 
ness  of  Him,  by  giving  liberty  to  carnal  and 
sensual  delights,  —  being  contrary  to  the  life 
which  Christ  led  here  on  earth,  and  to  the 
spiritual  life  of  Christ  in  our  souls,  for  the 
sanctifying  and  saving  whereof,  Christ  was 
pleased  both  to  take  a  human  life,  and  to  lay 
it  down  again.'  "  The  historian  goes  on  to  say, 
that  this  order  caused  great  excitement  and 
disturbance  over  the  whole  nation.  The  Roy- 
alists, who  were  certainly  not  the  best  judges 
in  religious  matters,  raised  loud  darnel's  on 
account  of  the  supposed  impiety  and  profane- 
ness  of  this  transaction ;  although  they  could 
not  but  know  that  this,  as  well  as  other  festi- 
vals, is  but  of  ecclesiastical  appointment, — 
that  there  is  no  mention  of  the  observation  of 
Christmas  in  the  first  or  second  age  (and  he 
might  have  added  the  third  age)  of  Christian- 
ity,— that  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  never  observed 


Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans. 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


39 


it  since  the  Reformation,  but  when  under  the 
power  of  bishops,  and  do  not  regard  it  at  this 
day. 

Some  of  the  most  learned  divines  among 
the  Presbyterians,  as  well  as  Independents, 
were  of  the  same  mind.  Mr.  Calamy,  in  his 
sermon  before  the  House  of  Commons  on  that 
day,  used  this  language  :  "  This  day  is  com- 
monly called  Christmas-day  —  a  day  that  has 
heretofore  been  much  abused  to  superstition 
and  profaneness  :  it  is  not  easy  to  say  whether 
the  superstition  has  been  greater,  or  the  pro- 
faneness. I  have  known  some  that  have  pre- 
feiTed  Christmas-day  before  the  Lord's-day; 
some  that  would  be  sure  to  receive  the  sacra- 
ment on  Christmas-day,  though  they  did  not 
receive  it  all  the  year  after.  [Is  it  not  so 
now'?]  Some  thought,  though  they  did  not 
play  at  cards  all  the  year  long,  yet  they  must 
play  at  Christmas ;  thereby  it  seems  to  keep 
in  memory  the  birth  of  Christ.  This,  and 
much  more,  hath  been  the  profanation  of  this 
feast ;  and  truly,  I  think,  the  superstition  and 
profaneness  of  this  day  are  so  rooted  into  it, 
that  there  is  no  way  to  reform  it,  but  by  deal- 
insr  with  it  as  Hezekiah  did  with  the  brazen 


40 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


serpent.  This  year,  God,  by  his  providence, 
has  buried  this  feast  into  a  fast,  and  I  hope  it 
will  never  rise  again." 

I  am  aware  that  it  is  as  unpopular  now  as  it 
was  then,  to  say  anything  against  the  observ- 
ance of  such  a  day.  Almost  the  whole  secular 
press  recommends  its  observance,  and  hails 
the  change  which  has  taken  place  in  public 
sentiment  respecting  it,  and  the  more  general 
observance  of  it,  as  an  evidence  of  increased 
liberality,  and  of  the  prevalence  of  more  en- 
lightened views  in  the  community.  It  has 
been  said  that  all  nations  and  all  systems  of 
religion  must  have,  and  always  have  had,  their 
festivals ;  that  we  celebrate  the  birthdays  of 
heroes  and  philanthropists,  and  why  not  of 
the  Saviour  1  Thus  degrading  the  Son  of  God 
to  the  level  of  a  mere  man,  and  his  religion  to 
the  same  platform  with  the  systems  of  heathen 
and  pagan  idolatry — with  human  systems  of 
superstition  and  false  religion;  and  thus  ap- 
pealing to  human  reason  and  human  prefer- 
ences to  decide  the  wisdom  and  propriety  of  a 
religious  observance.  All  this  can  have  no 
weight  to  convince,  or  to  establish  the  claims 
of  an  institution,  to  the  satisfaction  of  those 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  41 

who  appeal  to  the  word  of  God  as  their 
supreme  law,  and  to  the  Head  of  the  Church 
as  the  only  legitimate  source  of  authority  in 
matters  of  religion.  Because  we  may  approve 
of  such  an  observance — because  it  may  appear 
to  us  proper,  highly  desirable,  and  may  be, 
in  fact,  a  very  pleasant  vanity — is  no  proof 
either  of  its  divine  authority,  or  of  its  expe- 
diency. Neither  is  its  antiquity  any  argument 
in  its  favor;  if  it  were,  then  the  supersti- 
tions and  childish  rites  of  the  Jews  which 
are  older,  would  have  a  claim  on  our  regard. 
Besides,  it  must  be  recollected  that  this  observ- 
ance has  been  opposed  and  protested  against 
from  its  commencement.  I  know  it  has  be- 
come common,  in  some  quarters,  to  speak 
lightly  of  our  fathers,  who  opposed  this  and 
similar  innovations — to  charge  them  with  hold- 
ing contracted  and  bigoted  views  ;  but  to  their 
own  Master  must  they  stand  or  fall :  they  must 
be  tried  by  the  same  law  and  testimony  which 
will  be  the  rule  of  judgment  to  their  accusers. 
No  doubt  there  are  some,  weak  and  incon- 
siderate enough  to  imagine,  that  if  the  Saviour 
were  to  come  how  into  our  world,  he  would 
be  more  liberal  in  his  doctrines  and  precepts. 


b2 


42  JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 

and  would  conform  more  to  the  public  taste — 
to  the  fashions,  customs,  usages  and  senti- 
ments of  this  enlightened  age,  and  the  present 
improved  state  of  society, — than  he  did  when 
he  was  upon  earth,  or  than  he  seems  to  do  in 
his  written  word.  Let  us  not  deceive  our- 
selves, nor  be  led  away  by  a  spirit  of  self-pleas- 
ing. Jesus  Christ  and  his  religion  are  divine 
and  unchangeable  as  the  throne  of  Jehovah. 
Their  requirements  are  not  matters  of  expe- 
diency, or  of  human  policy,  to  be  accommo- 
dated to  the  times  and  to  the  caprices  of  men. 
In  deciding  what  is  our  duty  respecting  inno- 
vations upon  the  prerogatives  of  God,  and 
departures  from  his  word,  we  must  consider 
the  principles  involved,  and  also  their  ten- 
dencies. 

In  looking  over  the  history  of  the  Church, 
we  find  that  all  apostacies  sprang  at  first  from 
slight  departures  from  the  truth ;  and  that 
all  the  errors  and  all  the  evils  which  have 
afflicted  the  Church,  had  their  origin  in  small 
beginnings.  Trace  the  mighty  river,  which 
ovei-flows  its  banks,  and,  like  a  resistless  tor- 
rent, submerges  and  sweeps  away  all  in  its 
course — trace  it  to  its  source,  and  you  will 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  43 

find  a  little  rivulet  or   a  silent  spring.      We 
say  these  things,  not  to  condemn,  nor  to  enter 
into  a  controversy  w^ith  those  w^ho  may  agree 
to  keep  such  a  day,  but  in  self-defence  and 
vindication  of  our  omission.     We  offer  these 
as  reasons  v^hy  we  do  not  feel  under  obliga- 
tions to  observe  it,  and,  at  the  same  time,  as 
a  solemn  warning  against  the  abuse  and  per- 
version of  human  institutions,  in  which  there 
is  a  mingling  of  sacred  with  profane  things. 
We  are  not  required  to  be  more  liberal  than 
our  Master,  nor  to  concede  more  to  public  sen- 
timent than  he   did.     Our  safety  consists  in 
following  him,  and  in  honoring  him  in  all  the 
ways  of  his  own  appointment.     Nor  can  we 
derive  any  advantage  from  adding  ceremony 
to  ceremony,  though  it  may  be  done  profess- 
edly to  honor  him ;  concerning  which  he  will 
ask   us,   at  his   second   coming,    "  Who   hath 
required  this  at  your  hands?"     The  coming 
of  Christ  ijito  the  world,  the  object  of  his  mis- 
sion, the  nature  of  his  work,  and  the  accom- 
plishment of  it,  as  declared  by  his  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  and  which  is  commemorated 
by  the  weekly   observance   of  the   Christian 


44 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH. 


Sabbath,  are  of  far  more  importance  than  the 
day  of  his  birth. 

If  we  are  conscious  of  our  depravity  and 
lost  state  as  sinners,  we  shall  hail  the  assur- 
ance here  given  us  by  the  Apostle,  as  glad 
tidings  indeed.  It  contains  the  discovery 
and  the  offer  to  us  of  the  one  thing  needful. 
We  need  use  no  argument  to  prove,  that 
the  greatest  benefit  that  can  be  bestowed  on 
man  is  the  salvation  of  his  soul ;  whilst  the 
greatest  calamity,  the  severest  curse,  and  the 
deepest  misery,  that  can  befal  him,  is  the  loss 
of  his  soul.  The  assurance  of  its  safety,  and 
the  restoration  of  it  to  the  favor  of  Grod,  are 
the  only  true  sources,  and  the  only  sure  foun- 
dation, of  our  happiness  in  this  life,  and  the 
only  effectual  means  of  reconciling  us  to  the 
grave.  What  is  it  that  can  soothe  anguish  of 
sprit,  relieve  the  pains  of  a  broken  and  deso- 
lated heart;  that  can  sweeten  the  many  cares 
and  toils  of  life ;  that  can  support  under  its 
calamities,  comfort  under  its  afflictions ;  and 
that  can  take  away  the  terrors  of  death  ?  It  is 
a  sense  of  the  love  of  God,  the  assurance  of 
his  ability  and  faithfulness  to  preserve  us,  and 
the  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality.     What  is  it 


JESUS    OF    NAZARETH.  45 

• 

that  causes  despair,  gives  poignancy  to  grief, 
an  overwhelming  power  to  sorrow  and  afflic- 
tions; that  gives  Death  his  sting,  arms  him  with 
all  his  hori'ors,  and  converts  eternity  into  an 
everlasting  hell  1  It  is  the  frown  of  God,  sep- 
aration from  him,  and  a  sense  of  his  v^rrath ;  it 
is  the  loss  of  the  soul.  In  proportion  to  the 
value  of  the  soul  should  be  men's  concern  for 
its  salvation.  But  it  is  not.  Ever  since  the 
fall,  sinners,  when  left  to  themselves,  appear  to 
be  insensible  to  the  value  of  their  souls,  and 
neglect  its  interests.  Although  it  is  their  all — 
that  principle  of  intelligence  and  of  immortal- 
ity which  raises  them  above  the  brute  creation, 
assimilates  them  to  angels,  and  renders  them 
capable  of  communing  with  God — and  although 
Jehovah  has  taught  them  his  estimation  of  it, 
by  the  interest  he  has  manifested  for  its  salva- 
tion, giving  his  only-begotten  and  well-beloved 
Son,  that  he  might  lay  down  his  life  a  precious 
ransom-price  for  its  redemption, — yet  sinners 
devote  their  time,  and  the  powers  and  energies 
of  their  souls,  to  the  pursuit  of  those  things  only 
which  pertain  to  the  body,  whilst  they  make 
light  of  their  souls'  salvation.  Surely  we  need 
no  stronger  evidence  that  men  are  under  the 


46 


JESUS    OF   NAZARETH. 


blinding  and  hardening  influence  of  sin,  and 
in  need  of  a  Saviour,  than  we  have  in  the 
manner  in  which  they  act  in  reference  to  their 

immortal  interests.     They  are  verily  guilty 

justly  condemned,  depraved  and  lost,  alien- 
ated from  the  life  of  God,  through  the  ignorance 
that  is  in  them,  because  of  the  blindness  of 
their  minds.  To  seek  and  to  save  such,  did 
Christ  come  into  the  world.  To  such  is  he 
offered  freely,  without  money  and  without 
price.  All  have  a  right  to  this  offer  of  Christ, 
with  his  benefits  as  the  only  Saviour;  and 
none  of  those  to  whom  the  offer  is  made  are 
excluded  from  the  privilege  of  receiving  him 
by  faith  as  their  Saviour.  To  those  who 
neglect  him,  who  will  not  come  to  him  that 
they  may  have  life,  he  is  dead  in  vain.  At 
the  same  time,  he  says  :  "  Unto  you,  O  men, 
I  call,  and  my  voice  is  to  the  sons  of  man  ;" 
"  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest ;"  "  If 
any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and 
drink ;"  "  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all 
the  ends  of  the  earth ;"  "  Whosever  will,  let  him 
take  the  water  of  life  freely;"  and  "Whosoev- 
er Cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 


DATE  DUE 

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1 

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GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 

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Princeton   Theological  Semmary-Speer 


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